


[Oldfic] Phobia

by TheFanficMaster



Series: Old fanfics [27]
Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: F/M, Past Character Death, Phobias
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 06:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8045134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFanficMaster/pseuds/TheFanficMaster
Summary: [Oldfic] Alice has a phobia. Learning of her past, it's not really that surprising.





	[Oldfic] Phobia

The first time it happens, it comes on so suddenly that neither he nor Oz has much time to react.

They are performing a mundane task, something required every few months or so—Gilbert is cutting Oz's hair. The blond locks have begun to tickle Oz's shoulder when he walks and he frowns when they come too close to his mouth when he eats. And when Oz is frowning, Gilbert must fix it.

It is something so perfectly normal to them that they do not think anything of it—Gilbert has always been the one to cut Oz's hair ever since he was little. Oz likes the way Gilbert painstakingly works at it, like he's sculpting the most beautiful piece of artwork up for exhibition. It's soothing and a little embarrassing, but Oz likes it too much to tell Gilbert to quit doing it.

However, it is also the first time Gilbert has given Oz a hair cut since his return from the abyss with the somewhat odd, mysterious Alice.

As it is, Oz hadn't thought to tell her about getting his hair cut because he hadn't thought he needed to. Surely it doesn't need to be explained, right?

Or at least that's what he thought, until Alice appears in the doorway to the bathroom, arms full of sandwiches and a pleased smile on her face.

"Oz, Raven, I got some sandwiches from the kitchen—"

She stops short in the doorway and Gilbert halts mid-cut. Oz continues to chuckle softly, having been teasing Gilbert about his attention to detail. He does not notice immediately that something is wrong.

Gilbert, however, does.

"What's wrong, stupid rabbit?" He frowns curiously, narrow golden eyes taking in wide violet irises, hands shaking all too noticeably as the food tumbles to the floor.

"Alice?" Oz finally notices that something is wrong, but it appears that he is far too late to have any hopes of calming the girl.

"No, don't!" Alice shouts, running forward and smacking the scissors out of Gilbert's hands before he can so much as protest. He flinches back and is about to shout, to ask her why she did such a stupid thing, when he notices the tears streaming down her face and eyes wide enough to swallow everything in their path.

For an instant, Gilbert thinks he's staring into a black hole.

"Alice!" Oz grabs her as she moves to lunge at Gilbert again, holding tight even as she struggles against his hold. "What's wrong?"

"Don't hurt him! Don't!" She shouts, all at once collapsing in on herself as she tumbles to the floor, shaking like a leaf. Gilbert watches with wide, understanding eyes as Oz kneels down before her, eyes wavering between fear and concern.

From now on, whenever he cuts Oz's hair, he has Sharon take Alice into town.

He always avoids bringing up the subject to the girl, knowing that she doesn't understand it herself. She probably doesn't even remember what spurred it on, or what happened in the first place to cause such fear in her eyes.

And—though he won't admit it to anyone but himself—Gilbert feels unspeakably guilty about the whole incident. And the thought that anyone, regardless of any situation, thinks that he has the power to harm Oz…it burns like ice in the back of his head.

The second time it happens, Oz is not there to comfort her. He's off having tea with Oscar, leaving Alice and Gilbert alone for the evening. Gilbert would be content to spend the evening mulling away in his room, doing what little paperwork he still needs to finish and avoiding any and all relations with every human being within a hundred mile vicinity of him, but Alice will have none of it.

He wonders if it's true what they say about rabbits and dying of loneliness.

He also wonders if it's possible to die from extreme annoyance.

He ignores Alice for the most part as she glares at the back of his head, obviously bored out of her mind and furious that she's stuck seeking out his company to fill the void left behind by Oz for the evening. He wants to ask her why she doesn't bother seeking out someone else, but has an inkling feeling that he knows the answer—his silent presence is probably more comforting to her than Break's eccentric attitude or Sharon's sisterly affections that Alice really has no idea what to do with.

She's used to him. This makes him safe.

…Safe to annoy that is.

"Why don't you find something to do, stupid rabbit? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Shut up, seaweed-head! Only you would keep nothing in your room worth looking at!" She snaps, eyes darting around the room with annoyance. This, Gilbert loathes to admit, is actually true. Not because he doesn't wish to keep things around him, but more because he tries to have as little time in his room alone as possible. Not having anything personally defining in here forces him to seek entertainment elsewhere.

He's become so caught up in his thoughts, tapping his pen on the edge of the crisp white page of a document, that he fails to notice when she slips off the bed and begins fumbling around with one of his drawers out of boredom. Not that it matters anyway, since most of his drawers contain useless things like underwear and such.

Except she chooses the one drawer that has something in it other than underwear and folded white shirts.

He doesn't notice anything until she jerks back with a squeal, blood dripping down her finger.

"Shit! What did you do?" He's running to her side before he can register that he's doing so, grasping her shaking hand as she stares over his shoulder, eyes wide and unseeing.

"Alice?" He frowns, cursing when he feels her hand shaking in his grasp. He quickly rips a piece of his shirt from the bottom to have something to cover the minimal wound with. She's still shaking and with a sharp intake of breath, he realizes she's crying too.

"Shit, don't cry please!" He's alone with her, no Oz to comfort her. What is he supposed to do to calm her down? He doesn't know what to do!

And she's still crying and mumbling something over and over. He frowns and leans in closer, trying to decipher her words.

"No…don't…don't hurt Oz!"

And with sudden clarity, he realizes she's not talking to him at all, but rather through him to somebody else.

But to whom? And why?

"Calm down, nobody is going to hurt Oz. He's with Oscar-sama, he's safe," Gilbert tries in vain to calm her down, resisting the urge to shake her gaze back to his own, knowing from experience that it does no good whatsoever.

He finally knows exactly what he's dealing with.

"Calm down, everything's okay," And without thinking about it, he reaches out and pats her softly on the head, reaching out to brush the tears off her cheeks.

Abruptly, her eyes snap to his, awareness returning as she frowns. "R-Raven?"

"Are you okay? What happened?" Of course, he knows what happened, but he wants to hear her say it.

"I…I don't know."

And that's all it takes to confirm his suspicions. He later has to deal with Break's curious teasing and Sharon's shocked expressions as he orders the servants to gather and dispose of every single pair of scissors in the house. Oz's eyes follow him knowingly and thankfully as he heads to the balcony for a smoke.

" _Don't hurt Oz!"_

His head aches something terrible, but he does nothing but sigh and sink down over the railing.

Her words cut at him even as he tries to sleep that night. The fear in her voice, the absolute blinding terror.

The next morning he gives her an extra pat on the head for good measure, ignoring Oz's smile and Alice's stunned silence as he tries to stifle down his own urge to fight…to _protect._

He's done all he can for now.


End file.
